You Are a Storyteller: How Stories Work

You think you know story, but can you define one?

On this week’s episode of You Are a Storyteller, Jesse and Brian talk about how stories work. They start with the dictionary definition of story: “the telling or retelling of a series of events.” But the definition doesn't stop there—every story needs a point. Brian likes to say that “a story is the telling or retelling of events, leading to a conclusion.”

Seems simple, right? This is how we communicate naturally. All of our stories have a point. Think about the last time you told a story. You likely passed along survival information—how you got through something, or how you didn’t get through something. (Have you tried the fried oysters at Bad Albert’s? Don’t. I ate half a dozen and was sick all night. I’m never eating there again.)

We’re natural-born storytellers, and we do this with very little effort. Start listening to the stories people tell and you'll see. Start paying attention to the way you tell stories—it's innate. But for some reason, when we're tasked with telling a story with a pen and paper, it starts to feel a lot harder. Watch and listen while Jesse and Brian unpack the definition of a story, break down its essential components (proposal, argument, and conclusion), and talk about how to ensure every element in your story proves your armature—so you can tell an effortless story, every time.